It's been said before, but cameras can by the best and worst thing that ever happened to modern day hunters. I remember BSK telling me that he watched mature bucks walk off the trail to make a point to avoid a trail camera, and then get back on the trail after they passed the camera. Not saying every or even most mature bucks avoid cameras, but no doubt some do. Just cause your not getting pics doesn't mean they aren't there…this is something I have to remind myself as well.

That being said, assuming they aren't dead, you should expect to be able to follow some of your bucks from 3 to 4 to 5. From my experience, if I have 10 3.5 year olds, I might have 4 or 5 at 4 and maybe 1 or 2 at 5. We have well over 5,000 acres of contiguous land (owned by several landowners) that is well managed and a lot of these bucks never die of a bullet or car. Go figure.

Also, with 1200 acres it's very possible some of your bucks are going to another property off of the 1200 acres.